The Ukrainian side reacted to Russiaʼs withdrawal from the “grain agreement”.
“We warned about Russiaʼs plans to destroy the Black Sea Grain Initiative. Now, under false pretenses, Moscow is blocking the grain corridor that ensures food security for millions of people. I call on all states to demand from Russia to stop its hunger games and take responsibility again,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on his Twitter.
The head of the Presidentʼs Office, Andriy Yermak, wrote that this decision of the Russian Federation was predictable.
Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that they are ending their participation in the initiative “as of today for an indefinite period”. Russian mass media write that the UN Secretary Generalʼs office maintains contact with the Russian Federation and calls on “all parties to refrain from actions that could jeopardize the agreement”. Deputy Spokesman of the UN Secretary General Farhan Haq said this in a comment to Suspilne.
The Turkish side has not yet reacted.
- On July 22, Russia signed an agreement on unblocking the export of Ukrainian grain from the ports of Odesa, Pivdenny, and Chornomorsk. The agreement was signed by Ukraine, the Russian Federation, Turkey and the UN as a mediator. During the day, Russian troops bombarded the port of Odesa with missiles. On August 5, the first caravan of ships left the ports of Odesa.
- On September 6, Putin said that it is necessary to limit the export directions of Ukrainian grain and food via the Black Sea as part of the “grain agreement”. He said that Ukrainian grain goes to the EU, not to Africa. The Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine denied his statement.
- On the same day, Russiaʼs permanent representative to the UN, Vasyl Nebenzia, said that the Russian Federation may refuse to extend the “grain agreement” in November.
- On October 13, the permanent representative of Russia at the UN in Geneva, Gennady Gatilov, also stated that the Russian Federation may withdraw from the “grain agreement” if its requirements are not met. The UN Secretary General received a letter with a list of claims from the Russian side. The main one, according to Gatilov, is guarantees of equal export of grain through the Black Sea.
- At the same time, throughout October, Russia blocked the export of Ukrainian agricultural products, creating artificial queues in the Bosphorus.
- On October 29, Russia announced a drone attack on a ship of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol Bay. Soldiers of the 73rd Special Center of Maritime Operations of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, who were trained by representatives of the British Navy unit, were accused of the attack. The same British representatives were accused by the Russian Ministry of Defense of organizing explosions at the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines.
- The occupiers confirmed the damage to the minesweeper Ivan Golubets, but it was allegedly “insignificant”. They also indicated that ships involved in the grain corridor were attacked.
- The operational command South and Britain rejected the accusations, and published a video of the attack on the fleet on social networks. The same footage was distributed by some mass media with reference to sources in the special services. A number of publics and researchers have reported damage to at least three Caliber cruise missile launchers, but there is no official information about this. Although the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation confirmed only the damage to the minesweeper Ivan Golubets, in the video you can see the strike on the frigate Admiral Makarov, which is the de facto flagship of the Black Sea Fleet after the destruction of the cruiser Moskva.